Weather News

SA basks in very warm night

Thick cloud combined with a hot air mass to lead to a very warm night last night over parts of South Australia, with some places seeing their warmest night in almost two years.

Wudinna on the state's west coast dipped to just 25.0 degrees overnight, its warmest night since January 2012 and for December in seven years. The minimum was achieved at around 9pm yesterday evening, before gusty northerly winds picked up. These winds caused temperatures to rise to 29 degrees by 2am, making for quite an unpleasant night for sleeping for residents of the town.

Cleve dipped to just 24.3 degrees, its warmest night in a year-and-a-half and for December in four years. Port Augusta dipped to 22 degrees, its warmest night since March.

It wasn't quite as unpleasant in the state's capital, with the city dipping to 20 degrees, however this was still five degrees above average.

Parts of the state will continue to endure hot conditions today due to gusty, dry northwesterly winds. The hot, windy weather is also leading to elevated fire danger, with severe fire danger forecast for the North West Pastoral, North East Pastoral, West Coast, Eastern Eyre Peninsula, Flinders, Mid North, Mount Lofty Ranges, Yorke Peninsula and Murraylands.

Thankfully, a gusty southwesterly change is spreading from the south today, reaching the north of the state by tomorrow evening. Near the coast, this front could also bring decent rain, with widespread 5-10mm falls and some places possibly seeing as much as 20mm.

In the wake of the front, temperatures will remain below average for a few days, before heat begins to build again from mid-week.